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The 1986 Study

Record Number: W4N01

Level 1: Prepositional Phrases

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Current technology makes it extremely difficult to draw lines, etc. from word to word in web documents. In Level One, I have therefore indicated words modified by prepositional phrases in following brackets. These brackets will be deleted in the answer keys to subsequent levels.
    My house is {on a corner} [Adverb to "is," OR adjective to 

"house"]. It has red bricks and white trim. If you go {in the 

front door} [Adverb to "go" ] you go {down the hall}[Adverb to 

"go" ] and turn left you come {to my brothers room} [Adverb 

to "come" ].  If you go straight again and turn right is my room. 

If you go {across the hall}[Adverb to "go" ] is a bathroom. 

Then go straight is my mom and dad room. Now I'll tell you

{about my room} [Adverb to "tell" ] , it is pink and has blue 

carpet. I'll tell you {about my brothers room} [Adverb to 

"tell"]. It is cream color walls, and brown carpet. He also has a 

T.V. My mom and dads room have cream walls and green 

carpet. Thats all the bedrooms, now lets go {in the family 

room}, [Adverb to "go" ] another bedroom, my dogs room.

There is a tv {in that room}[Adverb to "is" ] . A couch, and a 

chair. The kitchen isnt very popular. We eat {in there} [Adverb

to "eat" ]. Theres a table and four chairs, a oven, a sink, a

refriderator, and cabnets. We have a dining room and a living

room. We put our Christmas tree {in the living room}

[Adverb to "put" ]. We have a table, two chairs, and a couch. 

We sometimes eat {in the dining room}[Adverb to "eat" ]. The 

house is {on 300 Main Street}[Adverb to "is" ]. The worst

day I ever spent {in my life}[Adverb to "spent" OR Adjective to 

"day"] was when I was six years old. I was watching my 

brother and his friends play soccer. I had a popcicle {in my 

hand} [Adverb to "had" ]. I wanted to go inside. So I was going

to go {up the steps} [Adverb to "go" ] {to the door}  [Adverb to 

"go" ], I tripped {in a gap}  [Adverb to "tripped" ] {in the 

sidewalk}  [Adjective to "gap" ] and hit my head {on the steps}

[Adverb to "hit"]. I was crying as loud as I could. My dad had 

just got home {from work}[Adverb to "got home," i.e., "returned"]

so he was {in his good clothes}[Adverb to "was" OR Adjective to 

"he"]. He heard me crying and he picked me up. He took me

{to the bathroom} [Adverb to "took"]. When we got {to the 

bathroom}  [Adverb to "got"] both {of our shirts}[Adjective to 

"both"] were soked {with blood} [Adverb to "soked"]. My mom 

was {in the bathroom} [Adverb to "was"]. She was cleaning, so 

she had just wetted a washcloth. She put it {on my head}

[Adverb to "put"]. The cloth was very cold. {In about fifteen

minutes} [Adverb to "stopped"] the bleeding stopped. Today I 

feel great. It's beause we got Nickelodean, Disney Channel, 

and M.T.V. I really like it. Do you like to watch T.V? I can't 

wait {until Halloween}.[Adverb to "can't wait"] I might be a 

punk or a chinese girl. I might even be a cowgirl. What are 

you going to be {for Halloween}?[Adverb to "going to be"]

Today I feel great! I am looking forward {to a visit} [Adverb

to "forward"] {from my cousin Curt and his wife Michelle}

[Adjective to "visit"]. He is going to show us pictures {of when 

he was {in Hong Kong}![Adverb to "was"]}[Adjective to 

"pictures"] [Note # 1]  He and his wife travel a lot! Today I feel

awful! Becaus my dad said he was going to get rid {of the 

Disney Chanel and all that junk}[Adverb to "going to get rid"]

[Note # 2]because my brother and I fuss {over it} [Adverb to 

"fuss"]. But my dad might let us keep it if were good. 
 

Notes

1. In teaching prepositional phrases to students, I would not expect them to be able to identify phrases such as this one, with a clause as the object of the preposition, until they were well into their study of clauses. When an example occurs in a text, I would explain that if we ask "pictures of what?", the answer is "pictures of when he was in Hong Kong." Then I would note that that case was a hard one, and they should not worry about it because it involves something that they will be studying in a later grade.

2. Because "to get rid of" means, in this case, "to stop," the explanation using the prepositional phrase is only one of two options. The other is to consider "going to get rid of" as the verb and "Disney Chanel and all that junk" as its direct object. Because students should be taught to look for prepositional phrases first, I have counted it as one here, but if a student did not put parentheses around it, it should not be considered an error.
 
 

Progress:
Total Words = 483 Words %
L1: In Prep Phrases  125  26

Click here to see the addition of adjectives and adverbs.

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